In order to be able to sell, you need to be able to effectively talk about your brand and offering.
Meaningful outreach begins with a consistent brand story. A brand story is the who, what, why, and how – encapsulating everything that you want to convey about your company, whether internally, externally, or more often than not, both.
Below find 5 steps to help you build a compelling brand story.
Step 1. Ask Questions
Start with a blank canvas. Ask your leadership team, your employees, and your customers/clients defining questions. This will help you build a foundation of content to build messaging off of.
Internally:
-
- What is the organization’s mission?
- What is your biggest success story?
- What makes working here great?
- Etc.
Clients:
-
- How did you first hear of the organization?
- Prior to partnering with/buying from the organization, what was your perception of their core competencies and reputation in the industry?
- How was your experience partnering with/buying from the organization?
- What sets the organization apart from competitors in the space?
- Etc.
Step 2. Compile Key Takeaways and Set Brand Guardrails
Start to pick up on themes carried throughout conversations. Start to highlight recurring points and descriptors. From here, create a working list of what your organization is and what it is not.
Example:
Multiple clients and employees described the organization as dotting all of their I’s and crossing all of their T’s, never missing a beat and having a outstanding attention to detail.
Takeaway: The organization is thorough, not cursory
Clients describe the organization as being ahead of the curve, predicting market needs, figuring out innovative ways to do things, and always knowing next steps.
The organization is cutting-edge, not traditional
Step 3. Outline Your Brand Pillars
Isolate 2-4 of the most descriptive adjectives from the above brand guardrails. Start to expand on what it is about the adjective that embodies your organization in written paragraph form. Delve into the finer details: company structure, ideals, work-ethic, offering, etc. Your core pillars should serve as the foundation for future messaging: on your website, in emails, in specific ad campaigns.
Step 4: Redefine Your Mission Statement and Value Proposition
Two of the most important elements of your brand story, your mission statement and value proposition should perfectly encapsulate what you want prospects and team members to know about your organization. Again, these should incorporate elements of both the brand guardrails and brand pillars.
Mission Statement
A mission statement explains why you are in business and what your goals and principles are. A mission statement tells the public and customers/clients what they should expect when conducting business with your organization.
Value Proposition
A value proposition should convince a potential client that your organization would add more value or better solve a problem than other similar companies. The ideal value proposition is concise and appeals to the consumer’s strongest decision-making drivers.
Step 5. Apply Throughout
Audit your assets – website, pitch decks, brochures, etc. to ensure consistency throughout. Communicate updated messaging to team members through a messaging roll-out deck and/or employee brand cards. Any prospect talking to team members, reviewing your website, encountering ads, or browsing social channels should be able to recognize a unified brand and easily distill key takeaways.